Regulation of dendritic spine morphology by an NMDA receptor-associated Rho GTPase-activating protein, p250GAP - PubMed (original) (raw)

Comparative Study

. 2008 May;105(4):1384-93.

doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2008.05335.x. Epub 2008 Mar 9.

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Comparative Study

Regulation of dendritic spine morphology by an NMDA receptor-associated Rho GTPase-activating protein, p250GAP

Takanobu Nakazawa et al. J Neurochem. 2008 May.

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Abstract

The NMDA receptor regulates spine morphological plasticity by modulating Rho GTPases. However, the molecular mechanisms for NMDA receptor-mediated regulation of Rho GTPases remain elusive. In this study, we show that p250GAP, an NMDA receptor-associated RhoGAP, regulates spine morphogenesis by modulating RhoA activity. Knock-down of p250GAP increased spine width and elevated the endogenous RhoA activity in primary hippocampal neurons. The increased spine width by p250GAP knock-down was suppressed by the expression of a dominant-negative form of RhoA. Furthermore, p250GAP is involved in NMDA receptor-mediated RhoA activation. In response to NMDA receptor activation, exogenously expressed green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged p250GAP was redistributed. Thus, these data suggest that p250GAP plays an important role in NMDA receptor-mediated regulation of RhoA activity leading to spine morphological plasticity.

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